WWE SmackDown Highlights, Grades, Analysis For Superstar Shakeup 2018

The second half of the 2018 Superstar Shakeup begins tonight on WWE SmackDown. We already know that The Miz is moving to Paige’s show, but who else will join him?

There’s little doubt that the Superstar Shakeup after WrestleMania is an exciting time for fans, and WWE SmackDown Live seems poised to get the better end of the bargain during the Shakeup after being badly ripped off last year. They somehow haven’t lost Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, or AJ Styles, meaning that the fans could be treated to one of the greatest main event trios in WWE history over the summer.

Meanwhile, The Miz will rejoin the Blue Brand after setting the WWE Universe ablaze during his first run. Now that Daniel Bryan has been cleared to wrestle, he and The Miz can begin one of the hottest rivalries in the company with Nakamura and Styles also ready to duke it out on the same show.

It’s unclear what the future holds for the Women’s Division. Charlotte Flair, Naomi, and Becky Lynch are all on SmackDown Live, and they seem destined to be separated after working together so closely for months with nobody turning heel. Raw gained the Riott Squad last night, and it feels like there will be more changes in the SmackDown Women’s Division. These changes, of course, would be welcomed by a fanbase that grew tired of the rehashed matches and non-existent storylines that plagued this brand’s Women’s Division during late 2017 and early 2018.

We also need to have one more key question answered. Will Seth Rollins or Jeff Hardy join SmackDown Live after Jinder Mahal was traded to Raw and immediately lost the United States Championship to a returning Hardy?

Seth on SmackDown Live would give the brand a plethora of dream matches, and it would also keep The Miz on the same brand as the Intercontinental Championship. Meanwhile, you could argue that Hardy should be separated from his brother by being on SmackDown Live and be the one to elevate the United States Championship on the Blue Brand, since he’s red-hot right now despite recently being arrested for a DWI.

As you can see, tonight is going to be another exciting one on WWE SmackDown, which seems to be a brand on the rise after an exciting first show after WrestleMania. Paige is the GM, Daniel Bryan is cleared, The Miz is on his way, Carmella is the champ, Styles still runs the show, and more star power appears to be on its way.

Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network to watch and check back here for live highlights, grades, and analysis on the episode of SmackDown Live during this year’s Superstar Shakeup.

AJ Styles starts the night off by talking some trash about Shinsuke Nakamura, who low blowed him at WrestleMania 34 when he turned heel and then low blowed him again last week in the main event of SmackDown Live. Styles called Nakamura the “Con Artist”, stating that Nakamura showed his true colors when he hit AJ with a low blow at WrestleMania after the match.

The Phenomenal One lamented Nakamura ruining his second dream match against Daniel Bryan, and he added that he won’t let this go. Styles proclaimed that he won’t leave the ring until Nakamura meets him face to face and mocked Nakamura pretending to forget how to speak English.

Speaking of English, Styles isn’t interrupted by Shinsuke. It is Aiden English and Rusev who come out to annoy Styles.

And that will be our next match. Rusev vs. Styles, and these two will likely put on a show for the fans in Providence, Rhode Island.

Barring Nakamura interfering of course.

And it isn’t Nakamura who interferes. Styles puts Rusev in the Calf Crusher early, so English caused a disqualification with Rusev in trouble. Daniel Bryan then came out to even up the odds and save Styles.

Ms. GM Paige announces a great match, Teddy Long style, pitting English and Rusev against Bryan and Styles, who are the best buddies we could ask for.

Segment Grade: C+, mildly entertaining but nothing special at all

Shelton Benjamin Is A Heel, Jeff Hardy Switches Sides

Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy

Result: Jeff Hardy Wins With A Swanton Bomb

Shelton Benjamin came right out and said it. “I never needed Chad Gable. Chad Gable needed me.”

Benjamin and Gable never won a SmackDown Tag Team Title despite tearing down the house with the likes of The Usos, and it appears Benjamin has blamed Gable for holding him back. He says that he asked Paige to send him some “big competition” in the ring so he can prove to the WWE Universe that he is a major championship threat.

And his opponent? The United States Champion Jeff Hardy. As the commentary team stated, be careful what you wish for.

How great is it to have Jeff Hardy on SmackDown? He’s now a Grand Slam champion, and he’s here to make the United States Championship more prestigious. This match against Benjamin is a great start.

The match itself was great. I love how brutal Benjamin’s offense is, and I love the little callbacks to Hardy’s match with Jinder Mahal last night. They set up the exact same spot where Hardy hit Whisper in the Wind on Mahal, except Benjamin initially scouted it out before Hardy found a way to hit his signature move.

In the end, Hardy won, as expected, with a Swanton Bomb. This was a good start for Hardy on SmackDown Live and a good start for Benjamin in his first match as a singles competitor in his current run with WWE.

Grade: A-, loved the promo from Benjamin, the pop for Hardy, and the match itself

Before we got to the match, The Miz cut a promo from Los Angeles on Daniel Bryan, stating that he wasn’t going to join SmackDown Live with the rest of the superstars. No, he’ll have his “premier” next week, and he had some harsh words for Bryan, which led to Maryse telling him to watch his language now that he’s a father. The Miz clearly hates being trolled on social media, even though he’s a top-tier troll god himself.

Grade: A-, another solid promo from The Miz

It is also announced that Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville are on SmackDown Live now, which bodes well for them with Paige at GM.

Harper vs. Jey Uso

Result: Harper Wins With A Discus Lariat

The Bludgeon Brothers will defend the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against The Usos at the Greatest Royal Rumble, so this is a teaser match for this.

And what a teaser it was. This was a squash match wherein Harper won with ease after Rowan stopped Jimmy and Jey on the outside. After the match, the Bludgeon Brothers beat the snot out of the Usos to further impose their wills on the former SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

Naomi came out begging for mercy, and she saved Jimmy and Jey from being completely obliterated by the Bludgeon Brothers, who did show mercy on their opponents.

Grade: C, this served its purpose and was watchable, but it wasn’t exactly must-see (whereas the first item on this slide was)

Samoa Joe Joins SmackDown Live

Sin Cara had no chance, and Samoa Joe completely pulverized him in his first match on SmackDown Live. What an entrance, and Sin Cara had no choice but to tap out immediately to the Coquina Clutch.

It’s going to be incredible watching what Joe does on the SmackDown roster, and I am personally ecstatic for a potential feud with Daniel Bryan. That could be one of the best programs and stories in the WWE whenever it happens, though there’s plenty of other things for these two to do, specifically Bryan.

The promo was insanely good. Joe called out the entire SmackDown Live brand and roster. He said that the wrestlers on the show are convinced that they are better than they are, and he bellowed that he will have “all the opportunities”. Joe specifically called out Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton, stating that he will defang “The Viper”. The Samoan Submission Machine also added that he will “emasculate” current WWE Champion AJ Styles.

But first, he’ll face Roman Reigns at Backlash to settle a feud the two have had on Raw.

Grade: A, Samoa Joe is a big star, and he’s going to reach another level on SmackDown Live, given how insanely good this promo was. I mean, this might have been his best promo yet, and that’s high praise indeed.

Sanity Joins SmackDown Live

It’s all about the chaos! Sanity is here on SmackDown Live, and the Bludgeon Brothers and the rest of the SmackDown Live roster has been put on notice. Oh, and Carmella, too. If Nikki Cross gets her hands on Carmella, it’s over.

Colin Cassady also came out to call Daniel Bryan a “little man”, and, well, nothing has changed now that he’s back, huh?

MELLABRATION

Corey Graves and I were hyped for this, as Carmella came out in her first full night as SmackDown Women’s Champion for a little “Mellabration”.

Needless to say, Carmella was busy gloating about how she doesn’t need the fans, how she waited with her briefcase in hand to “seize the moment”, and how she BEAT CHARLOTTE FLAIR WITHOUT ANY HELP!

(She also called out Asuka’s streak, so you know where this is headed…)

Carmella has a little video package playing that pays tribute to her Money in the Bank briefcase victory, and she then named her SmackDown Women’s Champion “Cleopatra”.

But instead of Asuka interrupting Carmella, it is Charlotte Flair, who has not left the brand for Raw and will still pursue the title.

Charlotte says she’s not mad at Carmella using the likes of James Ellsworth, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce to eventually get the title, because she knows the “Dirtiest Player in the Game” (Ric Flair).

But Charlotte doesn’t speak for long, because the Iconics, Kay and Royce, decide to have their say after costing Flair her title last week.

Please watch Royce’s impression of Charlotte. It was THAT good.

Royce and Kay, of course, beat Charlotte up 2-on-1…but Becky Lynch makes the save!

Grade: B+, definitely worth checking out

Charlotte Flair vs. Billie Kay

Result: Charlotte Flair Taps Out Billie Kay With The Figure Eight

This match was made during the break, and Lynch is in Charlotte’s corner with Royce in Kay’s corner. Carmella is laid back sitting with the commentary team, calmly holding the SmackDown Women’s Championship in her lap. Interestingly enough, she never spoke.

Most of the match featured Kay beating down Charlotte in slow-paced fashion, so it was a typical Charlotte babyface match. But Charlotte eventually overcame, winning with a Figure Eight that caused Kay to immediately tap out.

After the match, Carmella wanted to take out Charlotte due to her fear of The Queen, hitting her with the title. Becky Lynch tried to help Charlotte out again, but she didn’t have much of a chance against both Royce and Carmella.

So guess who decided to make her presence felt to save the babyfaces? Asuka, who remembers the Iconics quite well in NXT, having beaten them up time after time.

Thanks to Asuka, the babyface trio stands tall. The dynamic between her and Charlotte will be especially interesting to monitor.

Grade: C+, the match was pretty boring, but Asuka coming to SmackDown Live and making the switch official was great.

The Bar and The Club

The Club announced that they are here to put the “Nerds!” on SmackDown Live, and then The Bar also announced that they are here. If you recall, The Bar and The Usos put together one of the best tag matches of 2017 in WWE, which isn’t light praise given how many great matches there were last year, at Survivor Series. And with Sanity in the mix, this is going to get insane. Oh, and don’t forget about the Bludgeon Brothers (the champs) and The New Day!

Speaking of The New Day, they had a fun segment with R-Truth, who can’t seem to remember what show he’s just been moved to. He and Tye Dillinger have an awesome handshake that you should totally watch one or TEN times.

Grade: A, this was hilarious

And you know who else is coming to SmackDown Live? Andrade “Cien” Almas. That’s right. We have Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, and Andrade Almas on the same roster. Almas is still with Zelina Vega, so you know something special is brewing, and you know that the likes of Orton and Hardy need to keep their eyes on a rising young star who has put together several insane TakeOver matches since November of last year.

AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev and Aiden English

It’s truly incredible how quick Daniel Bryan is. Also, his lats look sick. Sorry, I had to say it, and, yes, I am still beyond ecstatic that he’s back in the ring even though this isn’t his first match since returning.

Styles and Bryan as a tag team in WWE is something we’ve dream of for a while, and even though they aren’t an official tag team, this is more than enough to satisfy us. The dueling chants of “AJ Styles!” and “Rusev Day!” were also fantastic.

As expected, Styles takes the brunt of the damage from Rusev and English in this match, because Daniel Bryan is so over that everyone wants to see him make the hot tag. And when he did after Styles’s picture-perfect Pele Kick, the place did indeed go nuts.

Bryan hit his signature moves, including the knee, but just as he was about to capitalize, Shinsuke Nakamura made his presence felt again. Of course, he did it via a low blow to Styles, and that allowed Big Cass to take advantage by hitting Bryan with a Big Boot to ruin the match and cause a disqualification.

It looks like Colin Cassady is going places, and he received the most heat of anybody. Also, his new theme is a monster upgrade.

Renee Young tried to catch up with Nakamura, but he just said he doesn’t speak English. Corey Graves had some fun with this, quipping, “What a tragedy! Could you imagine forgetting an entire language?”

The finish to the main event was wonky, but it got the right people to shine and hit all the right notes. And how cool was it to see English sharing the ring with Styles and Bryan? This man’s rise by Rusev’s side has been great to watch.

Grade: B, Solid match with an ending that generated heat and moved things along nicely.

Next: WWE Raw 5 Takeaways

Show Grade: A, Great episode of SmackDown Live with trades that made sense and hype this show up going forward. The seeds of change are springing in SmackDown Live, and I can’t wait to see what is in store for us throughout the summer and the remainder of 2018. It’s up to the creative team to deliver, because they have a LOADED UP roster to work with.